The Pirated Onmyoji of the Detective World

He glanced again at Mr. Takeshita in the crowd, whose eyes held a mixture of relief and resentment.

Then he slowly began, "Do you remember that strange thing Conan heard the deceased say?"

"Huh? What are you saying?" Inspector Megure, who thought everything had been clarified, began to feel confused again.

"That's it—strange, it won't go in, hmm? Maybe there's no lock!"

Seeing everyone's puzzled expressions, Conan took advantage of the moment when everyone was lost in thought and jumped out from behind Ran again to repeat what Tequila had said.

"Is there something wrong with that statement?" Inspector Megure still didn't understand its meaning.

Instead of directly answering Inspector Megure's question, Aragaki Yu looked directly at Nakajima Hideaki, who was being restrained by the police officers, and asked, "Mr. Nakajima, I would like to ask you, was the briefcase you were preparing to trade with the deceased locked?"

"Of course!"

Although he didn't understand why Aragaki Yu asked that question, Nakajima Hideaki realized that there might be a glimmer of hope in his situation, so he told everything without hiding anything: "Because there were very important documents inside, I naturally locked the briefcase, and I traded the key and the number plate to that man in black."

After saying that, he cautiously glanced around at the people around him, and then added again, "Oh! Right, it was when I went to the toilet with that kid named Conan!"

"Wait...!? So that means..."

At this moment, Inspector Megure finally realized something, and looking at Aragaki Yu with disbelief, he said, "The deceased was referring to that briefcase when he said he couldn't insert it!"

Aragaki Yu raised an eyebrow, looked at Takeshita-san's face which had turned ugly again, and nodded, saying, "That's right."

He didn't know why criminal suspects these days have such poor mental fortitude.

Even though he hadn't produced any evidence yet, the expression on his face said it all.

What's even more frustrating is that usually only Conan notices these things, while the police are practically blind to them.

Yu Aragaki smiled and asked everyone a question: "So here's the question: why doesn't the key that Mr. Nakajima gave to the deceased match the briefcase he received?"

"..."

After looking around, Inspector Megure and Ran were all confused.

Only Conan, standing behind Ran, seemed hesitant to speak.

Of course, there was also Mr. Takeshita, who was so nervous that his legs were trembling slightly. When Aragaki Yu's gaze swept over him, he unconsciously lowered his head to avoid his eyes.

"I think the only possibility is that Mr. Nakajima's briefcase was switched by someone."

After a moment of silence, and seeing that no one else had spoken, Yuuya Aragaki answered the question himself.

"Or perhaps Mr. Nakajima's number plate was secretly replaced by someone."

"What...!? There's actually such a thing!" Inspector Megure stared wide-eyed at Yuu Aragaki, unable to believe what he was saying.

"Am I right, Mr. Takeshita?"

As if afraid that someone might not know who "Mr. Takeshita" was, Aragaki Yu thoughtfully pointed to him.

Mr. Takeshita: "..."

His heart skipped a beat when Aragaki Yu suddenly called his name.

Chapter 292 Saying Goodbye to Overtime

After a moment of stunned silence, Mr. Takeshita displayed an extremely exaggerated expression of anger.

He glared at Aragaki Yu with wide eyes and said, "I don't even know that man in black, why would I kill him?!"

Watching Mr. Takeshita's exaggerated acting, Yuu Aragaki couldn't help but silently give Yukiko Kudo a thumbs up in his heart.

It's true that there's no harm without comparison; the acting skills of big stars are truly amazing.

Surprisingly, Aragaki Yu nodded in affirmation of Takeshita's statement.

But what he said next not only shocked everyone around him, but also caused Mr. Takeshita to collapse to the ground.

“That’s right, you really didn’t intend to kill the victims, because the person you really wanted to kill was Mr. Nakajima, am I right?”

"What...what did you say!?"

Mr. Nakajima, who had been detained by the police, finally managed to break free from their control. He squeezed out of the crowd and looked incredulously at Aragaki Yuu and Takeshita kneeling in front of Aragaki Yuu, a look of lingering fear on his face.

"I think the time I'd like to change the number plate is around the time Mr. Takeshita asked Mr. Nakajima to demonstrate the boxing force measuring machine and was holding his coat for him," said Yuu Aragaki, pointing to Mr. Nakajima's clothes.

"However, Mr. Takeshita encountered a very troublesome problem when he left the briefcase containing the bomb at the storage facility."

Yuu Aragaki then pointed to Sonoko standing to the side and continued to explain in Sonoko's bewildered gaze: "Sonoko's number is 96, and Mr. Nakajima, who is not far behind Sonoko, must also have a number in the nineties. On the other hand, Mr. Takeshita, who has been at the very back of the line, must have a number in the hundredties."

"If the number plates were in the 90s or 100s, it might cause problems if they were switched, which is why Mr. Takeshita suddenly took the lead and cut in line in front of Ran."

At this point, Aragaki Yu stared at Mr. Takeshita, who was slumped on the ground, and said, "I think, Mr. Takeshita, your goal is probably to get the number plate number in the nineties or so that is next to Mr. Nakajima's."

Mr. Takeshita: "..."

Aragaki Yu spoke a little too quickly.

Some people understood the entire process of the crime, while others did not.

However, Inspector Megure was quite clear about what to do next.

Having completely believed what Aragaki Yu had said about Inspector Megure, he excitedly asked Aragaki Yu, "But Aragaki, what evidence do you have?"

"Evidence?" Aragaki Yu glanced at Inspector Megure with a hint of helplessness. "The evidence is probably the number tag that Takeshita is wearing right now. I think we can find Nakajima's fingerprints on it, since it originally belonged to Nakajima."

"Also, I'd like to take a closer look at the briefcases belonging to Mantendo Company at the storage area. I think only Mr. Takeshita's briefcase is missing."

Yuu Aragaki wasn't worried about the police searching his briefcase at the valet storage.

Because of the documents Gin demanded of him, he had already had Yuki-onna sneak into the lockers at the storage area and steal them.

Although Mr. Nakajima's briefcase was locked, this did not deter the Snow Woman.

The snow woman used only a small amount of her power to freeze the lock on the briefcase.

Then, while everyone was distracted, the Snow Woman secretly hid the document bag inside her briefcase.

As for what to do if the police find the damaged briefcase, Aragaki Yu wasn't worried at all.

Since the incident, Aragaki Yu has been staying with Ran and Sonoko.

Later on, he actively assisted the police in solving the case and even suggested that the police search the storage facility.

In this way, no matter who is suspected of stealing the Jimmy Liao documents from Mr. Nakajima's briefcase, it is impossible to suspect Aragaki Yu.

Of course, all of this is made possible thanks to Japan, a country that dislikes installing surveillance cameras everywhere.

……

"Humph!"

After letting out a cold laugh, Mr. Takeshita, who was lying on the ground, suddenly sprang up in front of Mr. Nakajima, grabbed his collar, and roared viciously, "That's right, it was you, it was you! Actually, the person who should have been killed was you, you beast!"

The police, who were startled by Mr. Takeshita's sudden outburst, took a while to react before rushing forward to pull the irrational Mr. Takeshita away.

Mr. Takeshita was still struggling in the hands of the police officers, glaring fiercely at Mr. Nakajima and shouting, "Because you killed Yoshimi!"

"Yoshimi?" Inspector Megure looked at Mr. Takeshita and Mr. Nakajima with puzzlement.

I don't know why this matter has involved a person named Liangmei.

Mr. Nakajima was so frightened that he stood there, unable to speak for a long time.

Mr. Tanaka, who had been standing there blankly, had no choice but to step forward and explain to Inspector Megure, "She was our manager when we were in the boxing club in college. She was dumped by Nakajima, and that's why she committed suicide."

"Suicide!?" Inspector Megure was clearly taken aback by this.

Not far away, Ran and Sonoko both looked at the stunned Hideaki Nakajima, their eyes filled with burning anger.

"Scumbag!"

Ran unconsciously clenched her fist, wishing she could punch Mr. Nakajima in the face with the same force she had thrown at the punching machine target.

"Yoshimi was Takeshita's girlfriend since junior high school, probably because..." Mr. Tanaka stopped talking at this point and chose not to continue.

Because everyone clearly understands why Mr. Takeshita wanted to blow up Hideaki Nakajima.

However, whatever Mr. Takeshita's motive for killing was.

Regardless of how outrageous and universally resented Mr. Nakajima's actions were.

"Let me go! I'm going to kill that bastard!"

"I must kill that bastard!..."

Mr. Takeshita continued to struggle before being taken away by the police.

……

With the assistance of Yuu Aragaki, the case once again jumped directly to the finale.

Although the ending was somewhat unexpected, it also left people feeling a little sad.

When the officers who were on duty with Inspector Megure passed by Yuu Aragaki, they couldn't help but pat him on the shoulder, their faces full of kindness.

Clearly, this wasn't the first time these police officers had encountered Aragaki Yu at a murder scene. Although they were all officers A and B whose names they couldn't recall, they were all familiar faces.

It seems that not only Inspector Megure, but who wouldn't like a younger brother who solves cases so quickly?

Sure enough, with Aragaki around, the police no longer had to work overtime.